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If you are overweight
or obese, carrying this extra weight puts you at risk of developing
many diseases, including heart disease.
Your doctor will
be able to advise you on this and will let you know if your weight is
likely to affect your health.
Some Health
Centres run clinics to help with weight loss.
Are you
overweight?
An easy way to
assess this is by measuring your waist or calculating your Body Mass
Index (BMI).
People store
their body fat in two distinct ways.
- Some store fat around
their waist and can be described as apple shaped.
- Others store their
fat around their hips and are often described as pear shaped.
People who are
apple shaped are at greater risk of heart disease and diabetes than
those who are pear shaped.
Waist
Measurement
Measure your waist
half way between your bottom rib and your hip bone. For women, the
waist should ideally be less than 31.5 inches or 80 centimetres, and
for men 37 inches or 94 centimetres.
Body Mass
Index
Body Mass Index
is a measure of body fat based on height and weight, using standard or
metric measurements. For example to use metric measurements divide your
weight in kilograms by the square of your height in metres.
Click here for a BMI chart
What is a
normal BMI?
- normal:
20 -
24.9
- overweight:
25 - 25.9
- obese:
30 or
more
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